Decoding Traditional Proofreading Marks

An overview of commonly used proofreading symbols

Having trouble figuring out traditionalproofreading marks? Here's a quick list of the most commonly used symbols.

If you've ever had a hard copy of a document proofread, chances are that you're familiar with the strange typology of professional proofreaders. Your returned document is so full of symbols (hieroglyphics? squiggles? cuneiform script?!) that you think it has been translated into Martian! These strange markings are the "footprint" that your proofreader has left on the document to highlight where changes need to be made to the text. The proofreader uses a series of symbols and abbreviations to suggest changes, correct spelling errors, improve punctuation, and generally enhance the quality and readability of a hard copy document.

Thank goodness for computers…

A hard copy—as its name suggests—is a physical copy of a document. Before the advent of computers, proofreading marks were the best way to highlight the necessary changes in physical manuscripts. While proofreading marks are still used by some publishers, here at Scribendi.com, we make the proofreading process easier by making our changes directly to your file whenever possible. For example, if you submit a Microsoft Word file to us, we use the Track Changes function to make our revisions directly to your file; this function highlights our changes in red and gives you the ability to accept or reject them individually. You can also track changes in Excel.

Locating proofreading marks

In hard copy proofreading, corrections typically appear in the left or right margins beside the line containing the error. A mark is also placed in the text to indicate where the correction needs to be made. A caret (^) indicates an addition, and a line through the text indicates a deletion or a replacement. Proofreading marks are traditionally written in red ink for better visibility.

Frequently used proofreading marks

Delete: , , or

Delete a letter: a diagonal line through the letter with the delete mark in the margin

Delete a word: a straight line through the word with the delete mark in the margin

Transpose:

Space needed:

Close up a space:

Delete letters and close up a word:

New paragraph:

Period or full stop:

Semicolon: or

Colon: or

Insert or superscript:

Insert or subscript:

Insert comma:

Insert apostrophe or single quotation mark:

Insert double quotation marks:

Insert en dash: , , or

Insert em dash: , , or

Centered: , or

Parenthesis:

Frequently used abbreviations

Let it stand:

Spelling:

Capitals:

Lowercase:

Italics:

Roman typeface:

Bold typeface:

Faulty diction: DICT

Awkwardly expressed or constructed: AWK

Wordy, too verbose: WDY

Wrong word used (e.g. to/too): WW

Eliminate the need for proofreading marks

Deciphering a proofreader's suggested changes used to take hours; fortunately, it doesn't have to any more. Submit your document to any number of our proofreading services today for a speedy, easy to use document review.

Microsoft’s Track Changes function allows revisions to be made to a document and keeps a complete record of all changes made. This can be useful if you’ve created a business document that you would like a coworker to revise and proofread. All your coworker needs to do is turn on the Track Changes function, and all of the changes that he or she makes will be recorded. Once the document has been returned to you, you can then easily accept or reject each change as you see fit.